State Dept. Official Reportedly Tried To Solicit Sex From A Minor

A U.S. State Department official was arrested Tuesday and charged with soliciting sex from a minor, police in Fairfax County, Virginia, said.

Fox News reports Daniel Rosen was arrested at his Washington, D.C. home around noon after he allegedly tried to arrange to have sex with a minor.

Fairfax County Police Department spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell told The Associated Press Rosen was arrested “following a series of online exchanges” with a female detective from the department Child Exploitation Unit who was posing as a minor. Rosen has been charged with one count of “use of a communications device to solicit a juvenile,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell said Rosen’s job at the State Department is listed as “director of counterterrorism.”

Authorities said it was typical to notify an employer in the case of such an arrest and the State Department had been notified.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed with CNN that a State Department official had been arrested but declined to provide a name.

“For issues related to Department personnel and for privacy reasons, we are not able to confirm the identity of the individual or specific charges,” she said in a statement. “His security clearance will be suspended, and he will be put on administrative leave while this proceeds to its end through any judicial process.”

An unnamed source within the State Department’s law enforcement agency told Fox News that local authorities were “hitting [Rosen’s] phones,” meaning police had obtained a search warrant and were examining his devices for additional evidence.

Rosen was initially taken to a Washington D.C. jail. Caldwell said he would eventually be extradited to Fairfax County, but could not say when that would happen. At last report it was unclear whether he remained in custody or had posted bail.